Oops I accidentally opened a tea room....part three.

Finally....the last  instalment of the trilogy of posts to bring you up to speed with how we 'accidentally' opened a tea room.

In the six weeks from advising the shop landlady (mid October 2015) that yes, indeed, we not only wanted to take on the shop but also, that we wanted to be in the shop and open before Christmas, to ACTUALLY opening our tea room,  a number of things happened. In no particular order -

1. There was a considerable amount of number crunching and extensive list making activity,
2. All manner of outcomes and scenarios were 'put out there' in 'what if...?' type conversations between me and The Husband.
3. My sleeping patterns became erratic as I became increasingly EXCITED and SCARED in equal measure
4. Frantic online shopping for supplies, sourcing wholesalers for all those 'hidden' things you don't immediately consider when you conjure up the romantic image of running a vintage tea room...loo rolls...hand towels....chalk pens....till rolls...a till...
5. Lot's of fun was had sourcing furniture that would fit in with the image in my head of how the tea room would look. Followed by the gripping FEAR that the things I had purchased may not work in the way I had hoped.
6. I received tremendous encouragement and support from my family and close friends and people I hadn't been in touch with for years who offered advice and became my' cheering squad'.
7. I looked to the many Sheffield based independent retailers, many of whom are woman in business, working Mum's like myself, and found inspiration and hope that 'it' was do-able.
8. We had the perfect excuse to visit other tea rooms and cafes to check out similar businesses and scrutinise how other people were doing it.
9. We AGONISED over setting our prices - too high, not offering good value for money and putting customers off; too low and we might look cheap.
10. We made contact with some really very talented and lovely local artisans and suppliers, told them about what we do and crossed our fingers in the hope that they would come on board and collaborate with us.
11. We went on tea-tasting and coffee-tasting visits to choose our two key drinks suppliers.  More about this another time...the coffee tasting trip was particularly entertaining.
12. The talented illustrator Jenny Robins  who designed our logo a few years ago, took a GIANT leap of faith and despite never having met us came to stay at our home for a few nights to hand paint our beautiful shop sign. 
13. We decorated and fitted the shop in the space of a week - late nights, early mornings.  Part of the 'fitting' process involved the removal of the 'surprise' gas pipe that came to light when the old sink was taken out and the two day delay that ensued and included a lack of running water until the day before we opened....not stressful at all....nope...not...at...ALL!!!
14. The night before we were due to open - still not knowing if we would get our act together on time despite having SHOUTED about our opening on social media - I  stayed in the shop until after midnight with my sister-in-law; pricing stock, eating takeaway and feeling a sense of hysteria rising and wondering if we would get any customers.

At 12pm on Saturday 5th December 2016, I turned around our handpainted sign to 'open'.  I joined The Husband who was standing behind our counter - our recently acquired, newly positioned vintage map drawers.  As our first customer approached, we felt like kids playing at cafe's. 

The Husband turned to me and said "just remind me...how do you serve loose leaf tea?"!